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Monday, May 04, 2015

Since I haven't updated the dusty ol' blog in months, I'll begin with my pregnancy! The pregnancy went very well. Morning sickness was manageable and it lasted until about 21 weeks. Once I was past that, the pregnancy flew by! I felt great up until the last couple of weeks where I felt the general fatigue and heaviness of being very pregnant! Overall, for experiencing my first pregnancy in my 40s, I felt great.

This photo was taken at 27 weeks.

About five days before the birth, I had my 39 week appointment. At this appointment, we discussed our desired plan. Since I dilate early, have issues with postpartum hemorrhage, and I feel strongly about having my own doctor deliver my babies, we decided to schedule an induction. For me, this means breaking my water. The plan was for me to come in at 5:30am on Monday, April 20th. Though I loved the idea of getting as close to the due date as possible, I was a little nervous about not making it another five days, and missing my doctor.

Three days later, on Saturday, contractions began in the evening. They didn't hurt at all, but were coming regularly. I decided to get into the bath to see if they would slow down. They did, so I pretty much stayed in bed and rested.

The next day, Sunday, the very same thing happened. Except this time, the contractions were more consistent and a few were uncomfortable. I again, got into the bath and then went to bed. But they kept coming. I prayed that God would allow me to make it just a few more hours so that I could get to the hospital when my doctor would be on duty. There are a few doctors in the practice who may not be as open to some of my birth wishes. In addition to that, if I were to have an emergency situation arise, I prefer to have my own doctor make critical decisions on my behalf. In the end, however, I knew that I would have to trust God with whatever direction the birth would go.

After several hours of debating whether or not to go to the hospital, contractions finally slowed down. We went to bed, and then got up at before dawn to arrive at the hospital at 5:30.

After we checked in, we were told I would be delayed because a string of women came in during the night with ruptured water bags, so the rooms filled up. We decided to walk a bit to try and get things going again. Contractions started up at about 9am. Around that same time, the staff decided to put me in a pre-op room to at least get things going until a room opened up. I tested GBS positive, so I would need antibiotics before delivery. They put me on the monitors, got my IV going, and started antibiotics. The contractions kept coming and they were getting more consistent and stronger. Each time I had one, I could feel my bag of water bulging. I was concerned that my water would break on its own before getting into a room. Normally, I would gladly want my water to break on its own, but for this birth I had decided to have an epidural. As with Grace's birth, and the concern of postpartum hemorrhage, I opted for the epidural so that I could avoid general anesthesia if an emergency arose. And since I had made that decision to have an epidural, I was not the least bit interested in feeling the pains of labor AFTER my water breaks. lol I wanted to get to my room, have the epidural, and then have my water broken! It's funny how once that decision has been made, all my mental toughness just disappears. Ha!

It was now nearing 11am and still no room. At this point, a sweet friend of mine who was with us went to tell a nurse that I was no longer an "induction", that I was IN labor! Shortly after that, a room was ready and things got moving quickly. Within the next half hour, I was settled in my room, received my epidural, and had my water broken at 12:15. I was already 5 centimeters dilated at that point.

Whew! We made it!

Immediately after my water was broken, I had several good contractions. But after a while, they started to lessen in intensity and get farther apart. Darn epidural! It has a way of slowing things down sometimes. We were diligent to try different positions to get baby into a good position. A couple hours later, I was 7 centimeters. I was encouraged that progress had been made despite contractions slowing down. At that point, I told the nurse that I have very fast transitions, and that all I need is one or two good contractions and I will be complete. We had a lull in contractions, so we just waited. And sure enough, I had one really good contraction and suddenly felt "that" pressure. I asked my husband to get a nurse to check me. I was complete! Hooray!

I ended up pushing for a half hour, which is very unusual for me. But the doctor said the baby's head still needed to turn a bit. I remember laughing at how hard I had to work compared to previous births where pushing lasted only minutes.

Our beautiful Anna Faith was born at 3:29p, April 20, 2015. She weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and was 20 3/4 inches long. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

The delivery went smoothly and I had no immediate bleeding issues. Since I have a history of postpartum hemorrhage, I have to have pitocin immediately following the birth. This aids my uterus in contracting properly to avoid excess bleeding. All was well for the next eight hours.

Greg and I were just settling in for the night, and suddenly the bleeding started up in earnest. Greg went to get the nurse, and there began the well-versed rounds of uterine massage, manual sweeps for clots, injections, and more pitocin. It was very painful. I remember thinking how glad I was that I had had the epidural during labor, because all of this after "stuff" is like a second labor. Ouch!

The nurses were amazing! They ended up calling the L & D nurses who are more experienced with hemorrhages, and they worked diligently to get things under control. A short while later, I was back on track and extremely thankful for the skill and wisdom of these nurses.

Amazingly, my blood pressure never dropped, and all my blood work came back normal. What a praise!

After a two-day stay, it was time to go home! This photo was taken as we were waiting to be discharged.

Here is our little darling at one week old!

Our oldest baby girl (22) with our youngest baby girl! :)

We are so grateful for Anna, our 11th child. Never in a million years would I have thought we'd have eight daughters! Our three boys handle all this "girl madness" quite well. They are sweet brothers! :)

I hope this birth story wasn't too scattered and poorly written. My goal was to get it up quickly, or I probably would never get it done due to.....life! I was going through my drafts, and seeing that I have tons of them waiting to be finished. Maybe someday I can get back to blogging, but for now, life is bursting at the seams and I don't want to miss it!

Friday, July 25, 2014

It's hard to believe it's been six months since I have published anything here. A lot has happened since January. And as such is life, there have been joys and there have been sorrows along the way. If you follow me on my Facebook page, you've caught some of these events since I've tried to stay somewhat active over there. But it's time to catch up here.

Let's begin with the birth of my first grandchild waaay back in March. I've lost any hopes of winning "Grandmother of the Year" by taking this long to show off my grandson. Cheyenne and Nathan had a beautiful baby boy, who is now (gulp!) four months old.

Allow me to introduce you to Gregory John...."Grey" for short. Just look at him donning all of his sweet freshness!

March 4, 2014

Fast forward four months, and here is my precious sunshine now! Isn't he the most handsome baby boy ever?

We are enjoying life as grandparents. We are especially thankful to live close enough to get to snuggle Grey often. Our younger kids are tickled to be aunts and uncles, so they tend to want to smother him constantly. There are no shortage of arms willing to hold him around here.

Shortly after my daughter had Grey, we found out we were expecting another baby. But rejoicing turned to sorrow when I miscarried not long after finding out. God's peace was abundant and we rejoiced that He had created another soul for His purpose.

By mid March, sorrow came again when we left our church of seven years. I won't go into detail here as to why, but it was a very difficult time for us, as well as for the church family. Just recently, the church closed its doors permanently. Our hearts hurt for the people, but we trust God will lead and guide them as they search for a new church home. We have since found a new church home, and we're slowly trying to find our place there.

Joy came again when we learned in late April that we were once again expecting. I felt really good about the pregnancy and looked forward to meeting our sweet new bundle in January 2015. But as the weeks went on, I felt "too good" and wondered if things were okay. My suspicions were confirmed at our first ultrasound. Our precious baby had no heartbeat. We were devastated, and the time waiting to miscarry was difficult. My body just wanted to hang onto this tiny soul. And my heart did too. I miscarried at 9 1/2 weeks. My heart goes out to those women who suffer losses much later. This one was hard for me, so I can only imagine the pain of a later loss. But in God's goodness and faithfulness, His grace was sufficient, and he carried me through my second miscarriage in a row.

Before the miscarriage, our daughter, Celeste, came home from college for the summer. It was so good having her home, and a comfort to be able to share our loss with both of our big girls here. Our time with Celeste was short but sweet. She came home mid June, and in mid July she headed to Uganda for the third time. She loves Uganda and the work she's able to do there. She's exploring the possibility of going back long term next summer. It will be interesting to see where God leads her in the future concerning Uganda.

Here, she is working with a ministry called Sole Hope. They wash children's feet and provide shoes for them.

Celeste returned home from Uganda, and then five days later, returned to Tennessee to start a job before school begins in August. We miss her already and look forward to seeing her at Christmas. As quickly as the days fly by, Christmas will be here before we know it!

In these six months, we have also celebrated six birthdays. Amelia tuned 3 in March, I turned 41 in May, Ethan turned 8 in May, Celeste turned 19 in June, Seth turned 13 in June, and my hubby turned 43 this month. In between all the joys and sorrows and birthdays, we've been busy living life as usual. Homeschooling, cooking large, cleaning, piano lessons, piano recitals, state competitions, swimming, meeting needs, trips to Sea World, and raising 8 kiddos, 13 and under (with no big girls at home anymore) have pretty much worn me out!

I have managed to write a few things over these months that I hope to post in the coming weeks. If you're still with me, thank you! I hope you have been doing well, and look forward to hearing from you. Blessings!

Sunday, January 26, 2014

I can't even begin to tell you what this weekend has meant to me. I had really needed some time to refresh, be encouraged, and just rest (I even ordered room service one night...aahhhh).

And that's exactly what I got this weekend at the Summit.

I was encourage. I was challenged. I was loved and pampered. And I laughed harder than I have in a long time. The speakers were phenomenal and had so much wisdom to pour into us. There were skits that had us in tears from laughing so hard, and worship music that pierced our hearts and prepared our minds. There was an unspoken support among strangers, who quickly became friends. There was good food, and myriad door prizes. But most of all, there was a room full of incredible woman, all with the same goals to be better wives, better moms....and with humility and grace....to be the kind of women who run into the arms of our Creator, trusting that He has equipped us for this mighty task of homeschooling. I am still soaking in all I have heard and learned!

Here are a few nuggets of wisdom I left with......

"Require...don't Remind." Cheryl Lange
When you've trained your children in an area, there's no need to keep reminding them. Let the consequences do the talking!

"Don't seek the answers...seek the Knower." Roxanne ParksWe often spend a lot of time seeking answers on our own rather than just going straight to the Knower!

"Righteous over right!" Cheryl Lange
As I'm reminded in Judges 21:25, we are prone to do what is right in our own eyes. Choose righteousness (and humility) over right!

"We impress people with our strengths, but connect through our weaknesses."(Can't remember who said this)
Isn't this the truth!?! We connect with other moms SO much more, and on a deeper level when we can be real and honest about our weaknesses. The honesty of these speakers was absolutely beautiful!

"A negative attitude will become a filter through which we see our own family." Brandy Ferguson
Whew......enough said!

(Paraphrased) "We all have the same amount of time in a day....I have the same amount of hours in a day as Donald Trump. It's how we choose to use those hours that make the difference. What is stealing your time?" Lisa Pennington
Such an important question to ask ourselves. It's easy to be pulled into those things that keep us from using our time productively. We must pay attention to those time stealers (electronics, social media, phone, etc.). Even though those things may be good at times, they're often the biggest culprits for stealing valuable time in our already busy day.

"Motherhood is a marathon. Embrace your race, stay the course, run with purpose, and finish strong." Brandy Ferguson
Don't compare your race to other moms'. Embrace YOURS, which God has uniquely created for His purpose, and has equipped you to run!

I am already thinking about next year and making plans to budget my expenses. And you can do the same. If you put away just $25 per month, you will be able to cover:

Early registration

Hotel for two nights (even less if you share with 1-3 friends or stay one night)

Food (Saturday lunch is provided)

Buy a couple of books

Did I mention the Embassy Suites serves a FULL hot breakfast for FREE? And not this "continental breakfast" stuff! I'm talking omelets made to order, bacon, sausage, potatoes, biscuits, pastries, juice, coffee, and a whole lot more! It's a beautiful thing, y'all!

You will be so blessed, encouraged, and refreshed. Please don't miss it!

Sunday, December 22, 2013

“Most sensible people say that adults cannot be expected to appreciate Christmas as much as children appreciate it. But I am not sure that even sensible people are always right; and this has been my principle reason for deciding to be silly — a decision that is now irrevocable. It may be because I am silly, but I rather think that, relatively to the rest of the year, I enjoy Christmas more than I did when I was a child. My faith demands that such be the case. The more mature I become the more I need to embrace the joys of the incarnation. The more mature I become, the more I need to be but a child”.
~ G.K. Chesterton

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

One of our favorite things to do this time of year is to celebrate the Advent season.

What is Advent?

The word Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent. Thus, Advent is far more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. It is celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ whereby all of creation might be reconciled to God. (The Voice)

For the past decade or so, our family has been reading three wonderful Advent books that have become our family tradition, and have been permanently imprinted on our children’s heart.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

When I was a youngin', pregnant with our first child, I remember teasing my husband one day, quipping that 'wasn't he glad that I didn't cry at the drop of a hat like those other pregnant women?'

I didn't experience hormonal issues back then. In fact, I didn't until my sixth pregnancy. Near the end of that pregnancy, I began feeling angry for no apparent reason. I realized then that I was experiencing the dreaded hormonal shifts that I had only heard other women talk about. Even still, it wasn't too bad, and it was usually short lived.

Each pregnancy following, I would experience those irritable and angry feelings a little sooner in the pregnancy than the one before. It was getting worse. Those shifts were so unpredictable in my third trimesters that I knew I needed to do something about them or else my poor family would suffer. Or tie me up and throw me in the closet.

Sourdough Starter

Whisk until smooth and cover with a cloth, napkin, or coffee filter. Let sit at room temperature for 7-10 days. I told you it required patience. ; ) I usually go for the whole 10 days. Be sure to stir your mixture 2-3 times a day. Oh, did I forget to mention you have to babysit your starter?

After the 10 days, transfer your starter to a jar and cover with cheesecloth, napkin, or coffee filter and secure with a rubber band around the jar. Do not cover tightly with a metal lid.

Stir well. Let stand at room temp for just one day, and then store in refrigerator until next use. It's a good idea to "feed" your starter once a week by adding equal parts flour and water. If you're not using the starter often enough, you may need to discard some of it each time you feed it just so you don't end up with an enormous amount of starter.

I know it sounds like a lot of work, but it's really not. And the yummy taste of homemade sourdough is well worth it. If you really want to be adventurous, and improve the health benefits of your sourdough (by pulling yeast from the air), find out more here.

*Troubleshooting: If after 5-7 days your starter is no longer bubbly, or it has a layer of water on top (hooch), don't worry...you haven't killed your starter yet. Simply feed it by transferring about a cup and a half of your starter to a clean bowl, and add to it a cup and a half of flour, and 2/3 to 3/4 cup of water. Mix and let sit at room temperature for a couple of hours. You'll have a revived starter!

Do you make your own starter? What is your favorite sourdough recipe? Please share a link in the comments.